Sunday, April 15, 2012

Applicants

When Fred down at the hardware store needed to hire a new person for his tool department, he placed and ad in the local paper, and he put another one on the internet. Fred didn't think much of it. But with the economy the way it is, people came out of the woodwork applying for that job. My goodness, ol' Fred was overwhelmed. One afternoon, he had a line of people practically out the front door—so crowded a person couldn't tell an applicant from a customer, which to Fred's way of thinking was not a great way to run a business. Well, Freddie, Jr.—you know, the "and Sons" of Fred and Sons—had a great idea. Freddie just went down that line of eager applicants, writing down their names and telephone numbers, telling each one, "We'll call you for an interview." Then, Freddie took that list, and he went to work with the reverse phone number look-up service. Right away, Freddie could find out where the people lived and how to reach them not only at home but by their cell numbers, too. More importantly, with the data he collected, Freddie could go on to investigate their backgrounds—see who might have a criminal record or an outstanding warrant, see others who might have credit problems, and, more importantly, find-out who the good citizens were. After just an hour or so with that reverse directory, little Freddie narrowed that list of fifty applicants down to the three he thought looked promising, and he called them on in for interviews. Big Fred, he joked later, "Maybe we should change the name to 'Sons and Fred'."